Apparatus for processing of alimentary pasta



United States Patent inventor Amerizo Benedettelii Piazza Umberto 8, 70100 Bari, Italy Appi. No. 759,662 Filed Sept. 13, 1968 Patented Nov. 24, 1970 Priority Sept. 19, 1967 Italy No. 20,636 A/67 APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING OF ALIMENTARY PASTA 9 Claims, 8 Drawing Figs.

U.S. Ci. 107/4, 107/57 Int. Cl A2lc 5/00 Field of Search 107/4, 4.2, 4.4, 54.2, 29, 57

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,131,653 5/1964 Bassano l07/4(.2)

Primary ExaminerEdward L. Roberts Attorney-Stevens, Davis, Miller and Mosher ABSTRACT: An apparatus for a continuous automatic and complete processing of elongated alimentary pasta from extrusion press nozzles up to packaging, comprising in a single assembly four parts mutually synchronized with one another, namely, a unit for spreading and cutting pasta; a unit for conveying pasta with crusting means; a vacuum drier unit and a stabilizer unit.

Patented Nov. 24, 1970 I I r 3,541,972

Sheet 1 of 4 Invenlor flHERI 0 BENEDEWE LL,

Attorneys Patented Nov. 24,1970 v 3,541,972

Sheet 2 of4 In venlor HMEk/GD BENEDETI'E LL! A llorney 5 Patented Nov. 24, 1970 3,541,972

Sheet 3 014 A army 5 Patented Nov. 24 1970 V 3,541,972

Sheet 4 of4 I nvenlor HIE/P150 cs/vsoermu Attorney 5 APPARATUS-FoIrPnocEssrNG or m mm, I

,- PAST-K BACKGROUND on THE INVENTION 1. Fieldot the Invention m I This invention relates". to amultiple. complex: apparatus designed for acontinuous', automatic and complete processing topackaging (conventionally obtained) of said' pasta, the processing comprising significant improvements over the known art.

2 Descriptionof the Prior Art m As isknown', at-present.elo'ngated pastaextruded from ordi; nary presses hasto be subjectedto a'icru'sting treatment and-- subsequently to an. actual drying process prior to being packaged for dispatch. Atpresent the various operations con-- nected'with such treatments are carried out separately by various machines, only partially automatic, and require; intermediate operations for transferring the pasta, withseveral manualoperations which cause a discontinuity in" the entire processing and createnonnegligible idle times,-

--lt is the object'of the presentinventionlike, by providing an equipment forallowing a, more typical and modern industrial approach to making elongated alimentary pasta with reference to that processing section which goes from pasta'extrusion-frompress nozzles up to packaging.

" SUMM'ARY'OF THE-IN NTION of'elongatedalimentary pasta fromextrusion.press nozzlesup Theinvention willnow be described'indetaiLbymere way 'iofexample, with reference" to the accompanying drawings containing theapastaas; supplied by jthe hopper-andprovided with sealing ;means tothe drier;walls, t he movement of: the rotating valves taking: place when' the oscillating valves are closed.

I The stabilizer unit for out andidried pastaplaced upstream said packaging machines comprises'one: or more pluralities of containergwhich containers are.-movable, step. by step in a closed cycle within a stabilizing. chamber and'areloaded directly from the top and dis'chargedfrom the bottom upon control.

BRl EF DESCRIFTION or THE oit wiNos relating to a preferred embodiment of the improvedapp'aratus for alimentary pastazprocessing, and in which:

H6. [is a sectional. view, as taken at right angles with the planes out of-which come the pasta-filaments. from the. press nozzles, ot a first portion of the apparatus according tofthe invention intended forpasta' spreading and cutting, and of t-prevent.these v drawbacks,characteristic ot. handicraft processings or. the

which:

' 'FIG'. 2 isan-enlarged detail;

FIG. 3 is asectional view, as taken parallelly to the planes out of'w'hich'come. the pastafilamentsfrornthe press nozzles, showingboth saidjfirst portion'of the apparatusand a' second portion thereof comprising the pastav transfer and-crusting To this :purposethe presentinvention'providesan apparatus consisting of a plurality ofjdistinct parts cornbinedin a'single assembly and comprising continuously operating means for pasta spreadingand'snap' operating, means for cutting said pasta in sets otside by side pastafilaments', such meansbeing in synchronism with one another'or having a common speed adjustment; means-for sequentially carrying step by-step individual sets of pasta filamentsto. and through a paper wrapping location in' timing relationship with said spreading .and cutting. means; avacuum-dr'ier into which said individual sets of pasta filaments are' supplied and discharged by check" valve means timingly operatingwith said spreading, cutting and transporting. ,means; "and a stabilizer unit located downstream of said dri'er ;and upstream of 7 conventional packagingmachines, said unit having a larger capacity than is the pasta hourly'output, In this apparatus; thespeed adjustment of the spreading:means'allows'the simultaneous adjustment of "the cutting, transporting and valve means in synchronism therewith.

Preferably, the'spreading, cutting and transporting means of v the pasta towards the paper wrapping location are'ass'ociated with one another, said spreading means essentially comprisingat least one belt conveyor,- po'rtionsof. the belt being open, to be controlled at two basic speeds by anoperating motor having an' adjustable transmission under the cyclic control of rotating rheostat or'speed control means driven by said con FIGS. 4 and 5 show in two sections at right angles to each other. a third portion of the apparatus intended for. drying the. pasta-whichhas undergone the crustingprocess;

FIG. 6 is a reduced'plan view of the fourthportion of the apparatus according to the invention consistingof a'pasta' stabilizerunit;

FlG'.'7 shows said fourth portion of theapparatus according 'to section Vll-Vll of FIG. 6;and

FIG. Sagain shows said-fourth portion of-t he'apparatus according to section vm-vnromo; 6. v 1

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT -.The apparatus accordingtothe invention fis arranged im 'mediately downstream a: press for elongated. pasta equipped, with .a-linear nozzle having one, two or more rows for pasta spreading. FIG. 1 of the drawings relates to a two-row nozzle F, but in'phantom lines two further rows with respective rol-- lers are shown to indicate that nozzles having four or more rows may be adopted.

The portion of the apparatusdesigned for-spreading, cutting and conveying to the, crusting device the pasta coming out of nozzle F, as shown in FIGS. .l,-3, substantially comprises: two

I superimposed belt conveyors l for collecting and conveying lengthwise thepasta filaments and provided withbelts having veyor. whilst the cutting means comprise at least two knives arranged at right'angles to the belt conveyor. platform apt to perform a snapping mov'ement'.a'gainst' it and to cut the pasta: spread thereon by penetrating: into the open portions of the belt under control ofcam means associatedwith-said rheostat means. and the pasta transporting means consist of chain conveyors equipped with a plurality of yielding mats,- each of which being apt to receive a single set of pasta filaments as provided by a cutting operatiomsaid. chain conveyors being open inner-sectionspa pair of chain-conveyors 2 equipped. with mats, associated to each of said belt conveyors lat rightan gles therewith; and cutting means 3 cooperating with said conveyors.

Conveyors l comprise a pair of end rollers 4, over which, by

engagement with the roller ends through-a-known tooth and notch system,a continuous belt5 is guided, said belt comprising solid sections- 6 alternating with internally open or void arranged at right angles to said belt conveyors and inside the same, in correspondence of the cutting means.

Moreover, within the-apparatusdricr the pastais supplied and discharged into individual sets of pasta filaments through check valve means intiming relationship with oneanother,

said pasta moving within the suitably heated drier on cascade belt conveyors and' each of said valve means comprising an oscillating valve for closing and opening a hopper and a rotating valve downstream said hopper and having two pockets for sections 7 One of the rollers 4 of each conveyor 1 is driven by Conveyors 2 are housed within conveyors l. perpendicularly thereto and include members 12 having roller tracks 13' for elements 14' ofchains'l4 and a plurality of flat rubber mats 15 adjacent one another and fixed to said chains. As seen in FIG. 3, these conveyors 2 extend on one side of conveyors 1 to penetrate into the apparatus portion intended to carry out the pasta crusting process hereinafter described.

Cutting means 3 includes a set of three of knives 16 associated with each conveyor 1', the spacing between the first and the last of these knives 16 is less than the length of the void gaps 7 in belts 5. Knives 16, the profile of which being such as to prevent in operation all contact with the continuous edges of conveyor 1, are pivoted at 16' at one end thereof and oscillated by a cam shaft 17 engaging in an eye 18 ofa lever 19 of said knives. Shaft 17 is driven by means of a suitable reduction gear, by a self-braking electric motor, which is started for snap cutting by a cam 20 fixed to the axis of rheostat l0, and stopped by a cam 21 of shaft 17.

The so far described portion of the apparatus according to the invention is completed by pasta guide rollers 22, by a suspended roller 23 with an adjustable counter weight 24, by a protective roller 25, all of which immediately downstream the pasta outlet from the press, and also by a cleaning brush 26 and by scraps collecting belt 27 parallel to conveyors 2. The handwheel 28 driving the expansion pulley 11 is to be actioned by the operator.

The second portion ofthe apparatus according to the invention, integral with the so far described portion, comprises a chamber for carrying out the pasta crusting operation FIG. 3),

wherein said pasta in conveyed, spread on mats 15 of conveyors 2. Chamber 29 for crusting is defined by an internally thermally insulated box 30, shown broken away to simplify the drawing. In said ,box are housed conventional pasta hearing and drying means, preferably consisting of thermal radiation plates-31 and radiofrequency plates 32. The length of chains 14 and the length of mats 15, as well as the number of the latter, are selected so as to ensure that when a mat is at a stop below conveyor 1 for receiving the pasta being cut,.the mat at the discharge end of the crusting system lies in the position shown in FIG. 3, so as to prevent the discharge of the following mat from starting. As stated, mats 15 being made of rubber, they wind up without any difficulty on rollers 2' of conveyors. This portion of the apparatus is completed by a tray 33 with a corrugated structure provided with an outlet duct 34. Cleaning brushes 35 for mats l5 and separating baffles 33' for trays 33 are also provided. The belts are moved discontinuously by an independent motor controlled by the same cam 20 which causes the cutting snap of knives 16.

In the apparatus according to the invention, the crusting unit is followed by the vacuum drier shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. This further portion of the apparatus consists ofa stout-sealing metal cylinder 36 closed by head cover elements 37 removable now and then for inspections and the sealing of which is ensured by gaskets 38. Within this container, provided with a port 36 for evacuation purposes, are housed a plurality of slightly inclined belt conveyors 39, radiant heating plates 40 being associated thereto as well as guide means 39' for transferring the load carried by the belts from one belt to the next one. The drier also comprises a rotating pasta inlet valve 41 having a hopper 42 provided with an oscillating valve 43, and supplied from the discharge duct 34 of the crusting system, and a rotating pasta outlet valve 44 havinga feed hopper 45 provided with an oscillating valve 46 and a discharge hopper 47. Valves 41 and 44 are of the type having two pockets 48, each of which provided with two closed ring gaskets 49 apt to form a frame or rim around the corresponding pocket 48 at the rest position of the valves drawing. Gaskets 49 are of different sizes and are mounted so that when one of the pockets 48 is astride a ring, the other ring provides a perfect sealing, and vice versa. Thus, any air introduction into the drier when operating the valves is avoided, whilst the accurate design of the shape of pockets 48, as shown in FIG. 4, helps to prevent the material in pockets 48 from contacting gaskets 49 and cylinder 36. t

Control of the valves 41 and 43 of drier 36 is carried out in full synchronism with the controls of the previous portions of the apparatus. Oscillating valve 43 actually closes under control of cam 20 by the same impulse actioning the release of knives l6; againunder control of cam 20, said valve opens under the impulse stopping conveyors 2. Rotating valve 41 moves through a half turn or revolution whenever valve 43 closes. Instead, valves 46 and 44 move in accordance with the stoppingimpulse of the last of the plurality of belt conveyors 39 of the drier. Drive means for the various valves will preferably be electromagnetic.

The apparatus according to the invention also comprises a stabilizer unit (FIGS. 6 and 8) located downstream said drier 36 and including, within a chamber having internally insulated walls, a plurality of moving containers 50 associated to one another as train wagons and apt to run through a closed cycle, which may be a simple cycle as that shown in FIG. 6, but which could undulate, if desired. Containers 50 are coil reservoirs apt to receive pasta from the top directly out of hoppers 47 at loading area C and to discharge it from the bottom at discharge area S, as hereinafter describedv Said containers are suspended on side wheels 51 slidable on rails 52 of the chamber and are arranged two by two in a side by side relationship, each container being connected to the previous one and to the one following by means of rubber or resilient joints 53 allowing the free circulation thereof at the curved areas of the stabilizer unit chamber.

At the bottom said containers have an oscillating wall 54 equipped with a small side wheel 55. On the loading side C of the stabilizer unit chamber said small wheels 55 slide on stationary guides 56 and thus hold the bottom 54 closed. On the unloading side S of chamber 49 said small wheels 55 rest instead on perforated belts 57. Belts 57 are arranged as closed rings or loops and are driven by two rollers 57', winding up thereon and in engagement therewith through the notches thereof, said belts having discontinued areas 58 where the small wheels 55 may come down with the oscillating bottom 54. Belt conveyors 59 move beneath said containers and are apt to feed outlet hoppers 60 for the packaging machines. The system is completed by radiators 61 for pasta stabilization and by the known type drawbar means for advancement of the train of containers 50. This advancement is performed by steps, a step for a predetermined number of semirevolutions of the valve 44, whilst the control of rollers 57' depends upon impulses from the packaging machines mounted downstream the stabilizer unit Belt conveyors 59 move'continuously, as well as conveyors 39 of the drier 36. At the unloading area of the above described stabilizer unit, fan means may eventually be mounted, which are however generally not essential.

Now, the processing cycle which may be performed with the apparatus according to the present invention will be briefly examined.

The pasta filaments coming out of nozzles F of the press associated with the apparatus are placed onto pasta separating rollers 22 and twine around suspended rollers 23, then passing beneath protection rollers 25 to finally come down onto belts 5 in correspondence of one of their solid sections 6. Initially,

each belt 5 rotates at its lower speed, which is of the same order of magnitude as the pasta outlet speed from the nozzles, and the'exact rate of which is selected by the operator at the start of every single processing by operating the handwheel 28 controlling the expansion pulley 11, so that while point a of belt 5 passes from the position shown to position a, pasta filaments will have already moved through about five-sixths of their length prior to cutting. Rheostat or speed control means 10 is so preset that when point a of portion 6 of belt 5 has reached position a, it will abruptly increase the speed of motor 8 (to about 5 times) thus causing point a of belt 5 to traverse very rapidly into position a". The pasta, advancing at a much lower speed, slide (without any substantial friction c0nsidering that section 6 of the belt is ofa very smooth running material, such as Teflon) in relation to the belt and continues to advance only for the short distance enabling it to shortly overtake the cutting point of the third of knives 16. At this moment cam 20 actuates knives 16 which cut pasta filaments P into two pieces. The latter drop onto flat mats I5 resting thereon to be carried to crusting: mats slide in correspondence of the cascade planes 12' on which the ends of pasta filaments project for cutting. The tail portions of cut pasta, which are minimized if adjustment of the handwheel 28 has been properly made, drop onto belt tray 27 and are carried back to the press. Brush 26 is for cleaning belt 7 from possible scraps being carried back onto conveyor 27 by a suitable chute 27'.

As apparent, the knives perform the cutting by penetrating into the open area of belt 5, which in the meantime has resumed its lower speed and without stopping continues to move at this speed, until it starts the cycle again with its second solid section 6 cooperating with the coming pasta filaments.

There is hardly any need to add that pasta spreading and cutting could be carried out by using a larger number of su perimposed and side by side belt conveyors 1 and that also the number of knives, and thus the number of available cuttings, may vary: the only limit to the increase of the number of these parts is that given to the rates of pasta drawing speed and tensile strength which obviously cannot be increased beyond a certain extent.

The pasta resting on mats 15 is at this stage conveyed into the crusting unit 29, wherein it undergoes the heating action of thermal plates 31 and of radiofrequency plates 32. Advancement of the mats is fairly rapid and the length of conveyors 2 within the crusting unit is not very long, whereby a dwell period of about 6-8 minutes of the pasta within the crusting chamber 29 can be contemplated. notwithstanding its quickness, this processing appears highly efficient and this is due to the fact that the amount of pasta being subjected all the time to said processing is very limited. Discharge into trays 33 takes place by mere drop, as mat 15 in the final portion of its travel on the chains first inclines and then winds up onto the end roller 2. Brushes 35 allow recovery of possible pasta filaments adhering to mat 15 thus providing for recovery thereof,

As seen from FIGS. 4 and 5, pasta filaments coming out of the crusting process before reaching the supply hopper 42 of drier 36 are stopped by valve 43 oscillating at the bottom of the duct 34, and closing at the instant when the last cutting impulse of knives 16 has taken place. When, upon the impulse stopping conveyors 2 the valve 43 opens, pasta will drop onto pocket 48 of valve 41. When valve 43 closes again and pasta supply into pocket 48 is interrupted, valve 41 starts moving and, by performinghalf a revolution without pasta contacting the sealing gaskets or walls of cylinder 36, discharges the-pasta itself on the first of the plurality of belt conveyors 39 of the drier, which conveyors start moving by steps, the first conveyor along with conveyors 2, the second conveyor when the first conveyor stops, and so forth'. The pasta spreads onto the first conveyor transversely and can be held by transverse projections ofthe conveyor itself; then moves on under the radiations of the heating means 40 associated with the conveyor and falls from the first conveyor onto the second conveyor and onto the following conveyors, being driven by transfer means 39', as apparent from FIG. 4. The number of belt conveyors 39 and the length and speed thereof will vary according to planning data and to the features of radiant means 40 in particular. Thus, at the outlet from the last conveyor 39 the pasta will be perfectly dried and through valves 46 and 44, similarly as for inlet, will be discharged into hopper 47 which will transfer it to the stabilizer unit located downstream the drier.

As clearly seen in H6. 7, said transfer takes place at the loading section C of the unit; the pasta is supplied for a determined finished number of half-revolutions of valve 46 to an equal pair of containers 50, then said pair ofcontainers moves forward and a second pair of containers is in turn supplied with pasta. The pasta is supplied warm as it comes out of drier 36, and the temperature of the stabilizer will thus be high along several meters thereof near the loading area and will then slowly decrease in the direction of the containers moving away from this area. As the containers move along their path in the stabilizer unit, the pasta contained therein is brought from drying temperature to stabilizing temperature, at which it is kept thanks to the presence of radiators 61 along all the unloading section of the unit. When the packaging machines 'send their control, belt conveyors 57 are moved until their discontinued portion 58 corresponds to one or more pairs of small wheels 55; one or more pairs of containers 50 are thus opened by oscillation of their bottom 54 and the pasta contained therein drops onto belt conveyors 59 to be conveyed to the packaging machines through hoppers 6.0. On completion of their operation with pasta 'thus received, said packaging machines will give out a new signal and the process is repeated.

The capacity of the stabilizer will be selected in accordance with the amount of pasta production desired without being obliged to package, such as to correspond, for example, to pasta production in a period of 24 hours, or preferably 36 hours.

The advantage attained by the above described apparatus are immediately apparent for those'skilled in the art of pasta industrial production; pasta processing from the moment it comes out of the press up to its inlet into the packaging machine, is in fact carried out in a continuous and automatic cycle with strictly rational principles from the point of view of industrial organization without significant scraps, with carefully designed processings and with the possibility of a single adjustment to be made only once for each type of pasta being produced with a minimized need for manual control. Particularly, when afforded by stabilizer capacity, it will be possible to carry out a continuous production of pasta, limiting its packaging to a single daily shift.

It is understood that other embodiments of the invention may fall within the scope of the invention, and that many variants and modifications may therefore be introduced into the apparatus as shown and described.

lclaim:

1. An apparatus for a continuous, automatic and complete processing of elongated alimentary pasta from extrusion press nozzles up to packaging, characterized in that it comprises: means for continuously spreading the pasta and snap operating means for cutting said pasta into sets of side by side pasta filaments, the means being in synchronism with one another and having a common adjustment for the speed thereof; means for conveying, step by step, individual sets of pasta filaments subsequentially to and through a crusting chamber synchronized with the spreading and cutting meansya vacuum drier'into which are fed and from which are discharged said individual sets of pasta filaments by means of sealing valves operating in synchronism with saidspreading, cutting and conveying means; and a stabilizer unit located downstream said drier and upstream of conventional packaging machines and having a larger capacity than pasta hourly output.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the adjustment of speed for the spreading means allows the simultaneous adjustment of the cutting, conveying and valve means in synchronism therewith.

'3. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the stabilizer unit includes discharge means actioned by the packaging machines, the output of which being larger than that ofthe apparatus itself.

4. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said pasta spreading and cutting means are associated with one another and with said conveying means, said spreading means essentially comprising one belt conveyor, having open portions of the belt and a two-speed drive actioned by a motor provided with an adjustable transmission and placed under cyclic control of rotating rheostat means driven by said conveyor, whereas said cutting means comprise at least two knives arranged at right angles to the platform of the belt conveyor and apt to snap against it and cut the pasta spread thereon by penetrating into the open portions of the belt under the control of cam means associated with said rheostat means, and wherein said pasta transporting means consist of chain conveyors equipped with a plurality of yielding mats, each of which being adapted for receiving an individual set of pasta filaments as obtained from a cutting operation, being arranged at right angles to said belt conveyors said chain conveyors and inside the same in correspondence of the cutting means.

5. An apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the single mats pause, with pasta laid thereon in single sets of filaments,

within a crusting chamber provided with thermal and/or radiofrequency heating plates, or the like.

6. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pasta is supplied to and discharged from said vacuum drier in individual sets of pasta filaments by means of sealing valves, said pasta moving through the interior of the suitably heated drier on cascade belt conveyors 7. An apparatus according toclaim 6, wherein said valve means comprise each an oscillating valve for closing and opening a hopper and a rotating valve downstream said hopper having two pasta containing pockets. the pasta being supplied by said hopper, and provided with sealing means to the drier wall, movement of the rotating valves taking place when the oscillating valves are closed.

8. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said stabil izer unit is located upstream the packaging machines and consists of one or more pluralities of containers, movable step' by step into a closed cycle-within a stabilizer chamber, to be loaded directly from the top and discharged under control from the bottom.

9. An apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said containers of the stabilizer unit advance step by step through a whole number of semirevolutions of said valve means of the drier directly supplying said containers.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION patent 3 ,541 ,9'72 Dated November 24 1970 Inventor) Amerigo Benedettelll It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 7, lines 1 to 3, "cutting operation, being arran at right angles to said belt conveyors said chain conveyors and inside" should read cutting operation, said chain conveyors being arranged at right angles to said belt conveyors and inside Signed and sealed this 13th day of April 1971 (SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M.FLETCHER,JR. WILLIAM E. SCHUYLER, Attesting Officer Commissioner of Pate 

